Audio/Video
Betting
Fantasy
Mobile
Shopping
Reviews
Travel
Equipment


ECB

Live and News
Live Scores
Latest News
Live Audio
Media Centre

International
The Ashes
2003 Fixtures
Other Tours/Series
England Women
National Academy
Domestic
The Counties

2002 Season

Frizzell County
Championship
Norwich Union
C&G Trophy
B&H Cup

Directory
League
Women's Cricket
Grassroots

Fans' Centre
Forum
TV & Radio
Ticket Availability
Wallpaper

Deep Extra Cover
StatsGuru
Statistics
Scorebook
Player Profiles
Grounds
Internet Links

MCC

Help & Feedback
Send it to a friend



The Official Home of English Cricket on the Internet

 


Advertise on CricInfo
CricInfo.com


Advertise on ECB.co.uk


Vic Marks

Victor James Marks

Born: 25 June 1955, Middle Chinnock, Somerset
Major Teams: Oxford University, Somerset, Western Australia, England.
Known As: Vic Marks
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Off Break


Test Debut: England v Pakistan at Leeds, 3rd Test, 1982
Last Test:
England v Pakistan at Lahore, 3rd Test, 1983/84

ODI Debut:
England v West Indies at Lord's, Prudential Trophy, 1980
Last ODI:
England v Sri Lanka at The Oval, Texaco Trophy, 1988

First Class Debut:
Oxford University v Sussex at Oxford, 1975
Last First Class Match:
Somerset v Gloucestershire at Bristol, 1989

Career Statistics:

TESTS
 (career)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding    6   10   1   249   83   27.66  46.80   0   3    0   0

                      O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
Bowling             180.2   54   484   11  44.00  3-78    0   0  98.3  2.68

ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS
 (career)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding   34   24   3   285   44   13.57  65.66   0   0    8   0

                      O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI   4w  5w    SR  Econ
Bowling             306.2   28  1135   44  25.79  5-20    0   2  41.7  3.70

FIRST-CLASS
 (career: 1975 - 1989)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding  342  500  90 12419  134   30.29   5  73  144   0

                    Balls    M     R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
Bowling             62992 2906 28591  859  33.28  8-17   40   5  73.3  2.72

LIST A LIMITED OVERS
 (career: 1975 - 1989)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding  304  241  56  4175   81*  22.56   0  14   75   0

                    Balls     R    W    Ave   BBI   4w  5w    SR  Econ
Bowling             13039  7966  286  27.85  5-20    3   3  45.5  3.66

- Explanations of First-Class and List A status courtesy of the ACS.


StatsGuru Filters for Vic Marks


Profile:

Vic Marks made his debut for Oxford University and Somerset in 1975, winning his Blue each year from 1975 to 1978 and captaining the team in 1976 and 1977. He also won a half-blue for rugby fives. He was more of a batsman then; his first century came against Worcestershire (105) in 1976 and he hit 215 (not first-class) for the University side against the Army and in 1977 he toured Canada with Derrick Robins' XI. However, his off-spin improved steadily and eventually gained precedence. Marks won his county cap in 1979, his first full season with Somerset, and played his first one-day international in 1980, against the West Indies at Lord's - a game featuring four Somerset players. He dismissed Greenidge and Haynes but had to wait until January 1983 for his next cap, on tour of Australia.

Marks made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1982, at Leeds. Although it was a modest start, with one wicket from seven overs, his 12* saw England home by three wickets after a middle-order collapse. Although his best bowling came against New Zealand (he played one Test in each series against them at home in 1983, and away in 1983-1984), at Auckland (3-115), his finest moments in Test cricket came on the subsequent tour of Pakistan (1983-84). Originally all at sea against the leg-spin of Abdul Qadir, he recovered to the extent of reaching successive scores of 83, 74 and 55 at Faisalabad and Lahore respectively. His partnership of 167 with Gower, at Faisalabad, was a record for England against Pakistan for the seventh wicket, while his first innings stand of 120 for the sixth wicket with Fowler, at Lahore, saved England from ignominy. In the second innings of that game he added a further 119 with Gower to stave off defeat. That was his last Test (of six) though, as his spin bowling partnership with Nick Cook was demoted in order to make room for Edmonds and Emburey, who finished serving his ban for going on a rebel tour.

In 1984 Marks came close to achieving the double, with 1,262 runs and 86 wickets in county cricket (including career best performances with bat and ball: 134 against Worcestershire at Weston-super-Mare, and 8-17 against Lancashire at Bath), and he remained an important part of the England one-day team, particularly abroad. In all he played 34 one-day internationals, including the 1983 Prudential World Cup. His 5-39 against Sri Lanka at his home ground of Taunton was one highlight, and a match-winning haul of 5-20 against New Zealand at Wellington in 1984 won him a man of the match award, and remained England's best one-day bowling analysis for many years. Batting down the order he was rarely provided much scope to shine in one-day cricket, but an innings of 44 (to go with his 3-50) against India at Cuttack illustrated his usefulness when needed. He played his penultimate one-day international in the Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket, in Melbourne in 1984-85, but was then dispensed with until 1988. Returning to the side for an end-of-season game against Sri Lanka he proved expensive (59 off his 11 overs), and that probably ruled him out of the side for the tour of India that was cancelled anyway. He spent the 1985 off-season touring India with Christians in Sport.

Somerset vice-captain from 1984, Marks stood in for Ian Botham through much of 1985. He took over the captaincy again in August 1988, his benefit season, from Peter Roebuck, and was then appointed for the 1989 season. He played grade cricket in Western Australia in 1981-82 and for the state itself in 1986-87, finishing 13th in the national bowling averages (with 30 wickets at 31.83), and was called "a great success" by Wisden as his team won the Sheffield Shield.

Despite benefiting from an Oxbridge education (an MA in Classics), Marks personified the old-world, rustic qualities of Somerset. A key member of the side during the glory years of the late 70s and early 80s, he was only the third Somerset-born player to be capped by England (after Jack White and Harold Gimblett), having been born in Middle Chinnock in June 1955. An off-spinner who gave the ball an unusually large amount of air, he invited the batsmen to attack him, often luring them into error, yet was seldom expensive. He always seemed to be the underdog; grimacing fiercely when the ball was delivered, and often carrying a weak attack, particularly in latter years (when he was one of those on the wrong end of Hick's 405*). Marks may not have looked as much the part of the international sportsman as some of his colleagues, but he was a good enough player to shine in a team which included Richards, Garner and Botham. It was Marks who took the man-of-the-match awards in the Benson and Hedges final of 1982 against Nottinghamshire (for his 11-4-24-2, with the crucial wickets of Rice and Randall) and the NatWest Final of 1983 against Kent (29 runs in a low scoring game and 3-30).

Leaving the game a little prematurely to take advantage of an opportunity in journalism at the end of 1989, Marks finished with 12,419 first-class runs (at 30.29, twice exceeding 1,000 in a season), and 859 wickets at 33.38. Cricket Correspondent of The Observer, and on the board of The Cricketer International, he has become one of the finest writers on the game, typically providing considered and entertaining pieces. He is a popular and humourous radio commentator, and has also produced several books ("Marks out of XI" was the characteristically self-effacing title of one of them). Somerset have been unable to replace his all-round on-field contributions, but he has remained involved in the running of the club, particularly as a team selector. (Copyright CricInfo 2001)

* Last Updated: Monday, 29-Jul-2002 15:51:49 GMT


 
USA5 Server